Under 12, under arrest

11-year-old faces charges in store break-in and theft from vehicle

Updated 9:49 pm, Monday, January 30, 2012

ALBANY — Brian Shea said the boy began showing up at his frame shop two weeks ago.

Likeable and curious, the child would stop by after school every other day and kindly pepper Shea with questions about his business.

"He wanted to know what I do, how to run a store, stuff like that" said Shea, the owner of Alacrity Frame Workshop at 215 Lark St. "Nothing suspicious. He was very nice. I got to like him."

On Wednesday, Shea said the boy stayed with him until he closed the shop at 7 p.m. After closing, Shea walked south down Lark Street, the boy went north. Fifteen minutes later, Shea said he was on his way home to Schenectady and the boy went back to the shop.

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"Then he robbed my store," Shea said.

According to Shea and police, the child had quietly unlocked all the store's windows Wednesday while hanging out in the store. The boy then went back after Shea closed up shop, jimmied his way in and stole $240 out of the cash register, police said.

The boy was arrested Saturday when a patrol officer said he spotted him stealing from a car. In an interview with a detective, police said the boy, whose mother was seated beside him, admitted to breaking into the frame shop and three cars. The child was charged with third-degree burglary, possession of stolen property and petit larceny. The boy in question is 11 years old.

"We don't arrest too many at that age," said Officer James Miller, a police spokesman.

The boy, whose identity is being withheld by police because of his age, was given an appearance ticket for Albany County Family Court and released to the custody of his mother.

Miller said the boy's punishment will be meted out within the juvenile system. If he was convicted of burglary as an adult, the boy would face a maximum sentence of seven years in state prison.

Miller said he hopes any punishment will deter the child from a life of crime, which he said often begins with a pattern of petty thefts and burglaries at a young age. "There are not too many people that are career criminals that didn't have a record going back to their teens," Miller said.

Shortly after the alleged burglary, Shea gave police the boy's name and showed them the child's picture on Facebook.

Saturday, Officer Michael Geraci, whose beat covers Center Square, spotted the boy peering into cars on Willett Street, a few blocks from the frame shop. Miller said the boy eventually found an unlocked car and tried to steal a camera from the back seat. Geraci arrested the boy in the act, Miller said, but not before taking note that the child did not look like a novice thief.

"(Geraci) said he was amazed; like he was watching a 20-year-old," Miller said. "The way the kid would look out for police, the way he was quickly checking the door handles. Like he had done it 100 times before." Miller said many kids learn how to steal from older siblings or friends.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, there were 1,906,600 juvenile arrests in the country in 2009. Of those arrests, 317,000 were for larceny or theft.After the boys' arrest, Shea said he felt a mixture of anger and sadness.

"He seemed like a regular kid," Shea said. "You just hope there's something they can do to put him on the right path."